Game System
The Fighting Fantasy system, in comparison with the mechanics employed in roleplaying games like or even the similar series, is extremely simple. Basic Attributes The player character, in the majority of books, has only three statistics, namely skill, stamina and luck, which are determined randomly by dice rolls at the beginning of the adventure: *skill: Roll 1d6 and add 6 to the score *stamina: Roll 2d6 and add 12 to the score *luck: Roll 1d6 and add 6 to the score Skill The number given for the skill score is a measure of the player's expertise at fighting and a range of other activities, such as sneaking, climbing, or dodging.Dungeoneer, p.23 The higher the player's skill score the better.The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, p.10 Stamina The number given for the stamina score shows just how fit and healthy the player is, and how determined they are to survive. Every time a player suffers a wound, its stamina score is reduced by one or more points. If a player's stamina score ever reaches zero, they are dead.Dungeoneer, p.23 Thus, the higher a player's stamina, the longer they will survive.The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, p.10 Restoring Stamina Most gamebooks offer some means of restoring stamina during gameplay. (See Provisions) Combat Whenever the player engages an enemy in combat, the statistics for that enemy are displayed in the text (See Fighting Fantasy Statistics). Attack Strength The player must determine their Attack Strength by rolling 2d6 (a pair of six sided dice) and adds this number to their skill, then does the same for their opponent. Whichever combatant has scored higher has wounded the other, and the wounded party must subtract 2 points from their stamina. At this point the player has the option to Test Your Luck, a gamble which either increases or decreases the damage done. This process usually continues until one party's stamina reaches 0, at which point they are dead. Testing Luck Testing Luck comes into play both by explicit instruction at various points in the narrative, and (at the player's choice) in combat. The player rolls 2d6 and compare the result to their Luck score. If the result is lower than their score they are considered to be lucky and are informed of their results; conversely, a roll which results in a score higher than the player's Luck will have a different, almost invariably negative, result. In either case, the player's luck score is decreased by 1 each time it is tested and thus subsequent Tests of Luck become increasingly difficult unless the player finds some way to replenish luck. (Sometimes the player is given a choice not to Test Luck and thus to conserve a higher luck score for future occasions.) Potions Generally most of the fantasy-orientated books offered the player the choice of one of three Potions at the start of the game. These were: *''Potion of Skill'': restores the player's skill to its Initial level *''Potion of Strength'': restores the player's stamina to its Initial level *''Potion of Fortune'': adds 1 point to the player's Initial luck score and then restores the player's luck to this new Initial level Other Attributes The first book to employ something other than the "standard" three attributes was The Citadel of Chaos (Jackson, 1983), which made use of the new attibute magic. This was a simple 2d6 roll with the addition of 6 to the number rolled which determined the number of spells the reader begins the adventure with. House of Hell (Jackson, 1984) employed the use of a fear attribute, where a "maximum" level was set via roll of 1d6 plus 6. If the players fear score rose to reach that level or more then the player has literally died of fright. Space Assassin (Chapman, 1985) introduced the first futuristic attribute in the form of armour, a 1d6 plus 6 roll. This worked similar to the Testing Your Luck system to determine if a player was protected by their armour. armour reappeared in Freeway Fighter (Livingstone, 1985) as a 2d6 plus 24 roll, joined by a new attribute firepower (1d6 plus 6) for the vehicle driven by the player. The Rings of Kether (Chapman, 1985) features weapons strength (1d6 + 6), a variation on Freeway Fighter's firepower and shields (1d6). Seas of Blood (Chapman, 1985) includes rules for combat between vessels with the attributes of crew strike (1d6 + 6) and crew strength (2d6 +6). Appointment With F.E.A.R. employs a unique mechanic for the series, Hero Points, which are awarded to the player for every villain captured and disaster averted, allowing them to compare their performance from one play-through to the next. Sword of the Samurai (Thomson & Smith, 1986), in which the character also has an honour score which starts on 3. The player is instructed to turn to certain paragraph should their honour score fall to 0. Beneath Nightmare Castle (Darvill-Evans, 1987) includes a willpower score (1d6 plus 6). Like luck, this attribute is tested throughout the book, with a note should the player's willpower score fall below 6. At this point should they be unsuccessful when instructed to Test your willpower they lose their grip on their sanity and lose the game. Other Abilities Other books allow the player to select from a number of abilities, such as the spells available in The Citadel of Chaos, Scorpion Swamp (Steve Jackson (2), 1984) and Temple of Terror (Livingstone, 1985), the special skills in Midnight Rogue (Davis, 1987) and Moonrunner (Hand, 1992) or the superpowers in Appointment with F.E.A.R. (Jackson, 1985). Some books use vehicle combat as well as hand-to-hand (Starship Traveller, Freeway Fighter, The Rings of Kether, Seas of Blood), and most of the science fiction settings include some form of ranged combat, with a variety of methods of resolution. Time The concept of "time" having an effect on the playing of the game first appears in Seas of Blood as the log. Category: FF Game Systems